accepting the hard places

Are there not times when the world seems to be closing in, people seem indifferent at best and hostile (even if rather deceptively so) at worst, certainly realizing that doesn’t include everyone- the idea being that one’s world is in danger of falling apart?

More than once I’ve found it’s good to simply accept that in some real measure, that’s the way it is, and go on with it. Simply accepting the mess and moving forward, not backing down.

What happens next is not something one can conjure up, so that it’s not even certain. But God somehow shows up so to speak and gives the faith needed to rise up and meet the challenge in the Lord’s strength, and not in one’s own.

Somehow all of this seems the work of the Spirit. God gets us to accept the reality of the hard place we’re in, even if we are mistaken in some ways about that. But in the difficulty, God gets us to accept the hardship so that we can receive something of his wisdom and strength.